Sautéed Mushrooms with Baby Kale

My older sister has just bought a small home on Thetis.  I tell you, this island is somehow in our blood.  We have a small photograph of our grandparents standing on the rocks by the Chemainus boat slip in 1921, with Thetis in the background.  This might not seem unusual, but my grandfather met my…

Butternut Squash Spoon Bread

Spoon bread seems to be in every magazine right now, and I figured it was about time I found out just what it is!  Trolling online and through cookbooks, I found out just a couple of essentials.  Firstly, it is made with cornmeal, secondly it has eggs in it, and thirdly, no self respecting American…

Yam & Chickpea Patties

The chances we get to have one on one time with our adult children seem to get rarer the older they get.  Nothing needs to be resolved or shared; it’s more a time that you are simply together.  It’s a time to shed a tear while giggling through it, or just finding out a little…

Swiss Chard with fruit & nuts

We grew up next door to an elderly couple, the Coles.  Mr. Cole had converted most of his very large back yard into a year round producing garden.  I think they realized that although we were a big active family with “always room for one more”, that our parents needed to be very thrifty to…

Gai Lan with Oyster Sauce

Thanks to Steamy Kitchen for the original recipe. (brassica oleracea / Chinese broccoli / kai lan) – or you could use any of these other brassicas – broccoli, broccolini (a cross between broccoli & gai lan), or rapini / rabé  / broccoletti Gai Lan’s bittersweet taste becomes more bitter the older the vegetable.  Look for tight,…